"Yet the Church desperately needs a new evangelism. And many of us need to be re-evangelized-or perhaps hear the Good News for the first time."(R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p.241)
Evangelism has always been a tricky word for me. When I hear the word my first impression is of some loud mouth huckster in a white suite attempting to fleece the unsuspecting, offering Jesus as a snake oil.
That is an incredibly superficial stereotyping on my part, and not entirely fair. There are in fact very good evangelists who through their actions speak volumes of how much the Good News has impacted their lives.
As someone whose journey with Christ began at a very young age, one month to be precise, I don't have an ah ha moment, when I truly found, knew etc. the Lord. That's not my faith language.
But I do believe that regardless of whether one sees themselves as "born again" or has always been there, we need continually to hear and reflect on the Good News and how it impacts our lives.
I do this through reading, attending seminars, getting to hear other preachers, but most especially with my daily encounters with others. Seeing the gospel lived out and faith bringing people through crisis moments tell me more of the Good News than any roving evangelist ever could.
There was once a Corn Flakes commercial that said "taste them again for the first time." And to me the same would apply to faith. I need to keep hearing the story again and again. And because each day is a new one, it should feel like the first time.
Blessings,
Ed
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